“This is the UAT-222 dish,” explained Cpt. Harvey Degree, lead engineer with the 324th ESB. “This is Starlink’s high-speed dish. It’s a five-terabyte global plan that we use to activate our Starlinks and essentially make them Starshields.”
The Starshield system offers high-bandwidth, low-latency information transfer to any unit worldwide, with upload speeds between 300-500 Mbps and latencies as low as 25 milliseconds. Compared to older equipment such as the Satellite Transportable Terminal, which is about 12 feet long and 20 feet tall, Starshield is a compact square roughly two feet per side.
Its reduced size, lower power requirements and minimal components enable soldiers to set up operations within minutes, improving safety and mobility in combat zones. “We’ve been using this new system for about five days,” said Sgt. Chandon Otten, an engineer with the 324th ESB. “You just grab it out of the box, put it up, there you go.”
By cutting training time and improving the speed and quality of data transfer, the Starshield enhances decision-making and operational efficiency in the field. “That’s the bottom line, it saves lives,” said Degree.
